Sweeter Than A Nightingale
by Tyde
Summary: *COMPLETE!* After graduating from Hogwarts Hermione undertakes studies in Muggle & wizard medicine. One day after a terrible bomb attack she finds herself with a very familiar patient. Eventual Hr/R. R & R would be appreciated :o)
1. Chapter One

~*~****

**SWEETER THAN A NIGHTINGALE  
**by Tyde

~*~

**_Chapter One_**

~*~

**Disclaimer:** If you recognise it, I don't own it. If I did I would have bought a castle by now.   
But I don't and I haven't bought a castle. JK Rowling is like Shakespeare in my opinion.  
Her work is timeless :o)

~*~

The explosion had rocked the Central Line of the London underground system. There were hundreds killed and thousands injured and it wasn't just Muggles. A fair amount of wizarding folk had been using the underground that day and one of them was Ron Weasley.

He'd been boarding a carriage to meet friends in London when the bombs had gone off. He'd been blown off his feet and up and out onto the street landing heavily. 

The Muggle emergency services had arrived before the Mediwizards and it was no use to interfere now. If they did it would break every law in the book to reveal themselves and help. A dozen or so witches and wizards were bundled up into ambulances and taken to the nearest hospitals along with the hundreds of Muggles also injured. 

At school Hermione Granger had always wondered how it was that there were so many witches and wizards in Britain but so few jobs. If you were smart enough (which she undoubtedly was) there were jobs in the Ministry or at St Mungo's but these were in limited numbers. Shops didn't employ that many people and thanks to a lot of DIY spell books tradesmen and specialists were not needed. 

She'd discovered that many magical folk got jobs in the Muggle world to support themselves and their families and seeing as she was a Muggleborn she figured it couldn't hurt to do the same. Due to all the many adventures that herself, Harry and Ron had had at Hogwarts she thought a career in medicine would prove useful. 

Not wanting to be totally cut off from magical methods of healing she decided to do a joint internship at Bethnal Green Hospital in London and St Mungo's just outside of London. 

She was stationed at Bethnal Green on the day of the explosion and it was all hands on deck to cope with the rush of patients. The number of people that came through the casualty section that afternoon seemed to go by in a blur. Dozens of faces covered in blood and scratches whizzed around in her brain. Some were unconscious, some incoherent and others were just purely in shock. After stitching up yet another gaping gash in a school kid's arm she was pulled aside by a fellow intern, Gemma Jenkins.

"Mione, I think there are a couple of your people in here," she whispered urgently. Gemma wasn't a witch but her uncle Derek was a wizard and she got a weird feeling in her stomach whenever magical people were around. It had taken an awful lot of courage to confront Hermione about it on their first day but she had and the witch now considered her a firm friend. 

Hermione nodded at her friend "Mediwizards must have been too late. Have they been admitted yet? Are the injuries critical?" 

She hoped against all hope that they hadn't already been assessed. Cause if their injuries had been critical and already assessed then she wouldn't be able to use methods she'd learned at St Mungos to fix them as it would raise suspicion.

"Just a few. There's one in surgery now, pretty horrific internal injuries from what I can gather by the chart," she handed it to Hermione who skimmed it quickly. 

"The others are fairly mild, a few clean breaks from what I can see and cuts and bruises," Gemma said this all as they bustled down towards casualty. Crowding a few scared wizards into an examining room and quickly fixing their ailments she glanced at the clock to see it was now 2.00pm.

"Looks like I won't get that lunch break," she sighed and then remembered she was supposed to be meeting Harry and Ron for lunch that day. 

An odd feeling began to form in her gut and she hoped against hope that it was wrong. 

Bethnal Green Hospital was located very near a tube station of the same name and where one raised by a Muggle family would surely take the tube to if they were to meet someone for lunch at the hospital. 

_Harry would catch the tube_ she thought. _He could be here, he could be that one in surgery right now_. The thought never entered her mind that it could be Ron, he wouldn't take the underground, it was only recently he learnt how to use Muggle post and telephones.

She raced into the preparation area and scrubbed her arms and hands clean and donned some scrubs, a hairnet and a pair of gloves before entering the operating theatre. The doctor in charge turned his head to see who it was and merely nodded at Hermione. 

"Good chance for you to learn about real surgery practices Granger. Stand next to Nurse Burlent and assist would you"

Hermione picked up a stainless steel dish filled with swabs and dared to look at the face of the patient. She dropped the swabs and the dish made a loud clatter on the floor causing everyone to look up in annoyance. The red hair was unmistakable and although she couldn't see his blue eyes that were always filled with laughter, she knew this was her friend Ron Weasley and he was dying. 

She backed out of the swinging doors apologising profusely and ran straight into Gemma who had been looking for her. 

"Mione, they're bringing more in and they need you in casualty. A man has been asking for you too," they continued down the hallway passing gurneys with people laying on them their faces twisted into grimaces of pain. 

"Says his name is Harry Potter" Hermione looked sharply at her fellow intern and at the several heads that had swivelled in her direction at the mention of the name. 

She ushered the magical folk into a spare room and started to mend their various injuries. She'd asked Gemma to send Harry in, hoping that he wasn't too badly hurt. A little witch, that had not yet received her letter for Hogwarts looked up at Hermione as she waved her wand over the broken bones in her leg. 

"I only thought Muggles worked in Muggle hospitals. How come you are here? Why didn't the Mediwizards take us to St Mungo's?"

"I suppose they didn't get there in time. How does that feel?" The girl stood on her leg and to her delight found she didn't wince.

"Brilliant, thanks Dr Granger!" The girl's mother thanked Hermione and as she moved onto the next patient she felt a hand on her shoulder. The hand was clean and devoid of any blood or cuts. She threw herself into Harry's arms exclaiming about his escape of serious harm. His green eyes looked guilty. 

"I wasn't with Ron, Mione. I had an appointment down the road this morning so I said I'd meet him here. I gave him the directions to get here via the tube and everything." He scanned the room quickly. "Where is he? Is he okay?" 

Hermione collapsed onto a bed and rubbed her forehead wearily. "No Harry, he's not okay. He's in surgery now, he's dying Harry, I don't know if they can save him."

Harry looked at her bewildered. "Well get in there and fix him! You're a Mediwitch Mione! Fix him"

"It's not that simple Harry, I've only had hands-on training for ten months, I haven't done nearly anything as complicated as that. He's got massive internal bleeding, a collapsed lung..." she trailed off, the list was long and too scary to think about now.

"Hermione Granger you are the smartest person I know and you've always managed to find a way to fix things. Don't tell me now of all times you're going to give up. Remember in sixth year when Voldemort had me and Snape tied up in that cave and was torturing us for ages," he shivered involuntarily at the memory "you were the one that never gave up trying to find us. It was your cleverness that led Dumbledore and the others to save us. Although I wouldn't have minded in the least if they'd left Snape tied up there" he managed a small smile. "You can do this Mione, I know you can".

He gripped her hand in his and squeezed it gently, encouragingly.

"Having faith is a wonderful thing Harry but I might just make things worse."

"Hermione, it's RON, you HAVE TO TRY!"

Harry's voice had gone just a little bit hysterical. His best friend was lying in some Muggle operating theatre, dying. He couldn't lose him, he just couldn't. 

Hermione thought of that pitiful sight she'd seen lying on the operating table, bleeping machines and sweat forming on the brows of the doctors as they struggled to save Ron's life. She nodded to Harry and told him to stay put. Wasting no time to scrub up she performed a spell that cleansed her and gave her new scrubs and a sterile face-mask instantly.

It was now or never.

~*~

**Author's note:** Please excuse my incredibly obvious non-knowledge of medicine terms and practices and stuff. I know I probably shouldn't have taken it on board to begin with but I'm fascinated with hospitals at the moment. Oh and I'm not British, I'm Australian, so all the hospital locations and tube information is also probably a bit dodgy.


	2. Chapter Two

~*~****

**SWEETER THAN A NIGHTINGALE  
**by Tyde

~*~

**_Chapter Two_**

~*~

His eyelids fluttered slightly but he didn't open his eyes just yet. A tickle in his throat caused him to cough and he heard a voice coming from someone sitting next to him. 

"Try not to cough dear. Just breath normally" 

It was at that moment that he realised he had a clear mask over his mouth that was feeding him oxygen. He felt...he couldn't describe it. Half like floating on a cloud and half like he'd just fallen off of said cloud and crashed to earth. He peeked through his lashes at the surroundings. 

The woman sitting next to him wasn't at all familiar and finally he realised he was in a Muggle hospital and no doubt was being treated the Muggle way. 

_Why didn't the Mediwizards come? Why am I in a Muggle hospital? Where are my parents? What the hell happened?_ Ron hadn't yet remembered the events that had led to him being cared for in a medical facility; it would take some time before that would happen.

Urged on by Harry's words Hermione had gone into the operating theatre that day two weeks ago but despise her best efforts all she had managed was to stop the bleeding. It had saved his life that was true but she felt she had failed him with his other injuries because now it would take sometime for him to recover. Something he wouldn't have to go through if she'd been more experienced.

The nurse sitting next to his bed stood up and left as a familiar head of hair washed through his vision. A white-coated person leant down to his face.

"Ron? Ron, can you hear me?"

The voice of Hermione broke through his stupor and he tried to crack a smile. "Mione. What happened?"

"You don't remember?" She tried to hide the anxiety from her voice but she couldn't hide it from her face.

"No, but I'm alright, aren't I?"

She turned away from him and he started to feel sick to the stomach. _She's practically a bloody Mediwitch. _Then a terrible thought hit him. _Oh bugger, maybe no one can fix me_. 

"Mione, am I dying?"

He heard her sniff loudly like she was sucking up tears and saw a hand raise as if to wipe her eyes and then she turned around. Her face was blotchy red, she had been crying.

"No you're not dying, but you almost did. Scared me half to death you did! But it's going to be a long process of recovery Ron. I'm sorry, I truly am, I tried to fix you but I couldn't do it. I just didn't know enough"

"Hermione Know-it-all Granger not knowing enough? Bollocks. You know everything I reckon and if you couldn't fix it then it was unfixable I say!" his sudden change of attitude surprised himself as well as the doctor. "What happened?"

"There was a bomb in the underground. Several actually, explosives set up in every main station along the Central Line. They detonated at lunchtime, right about the time you would have been heading over to see me."

"That's right, me and Harry were gonna meet you for lunch. Bloody hell, is Harry okay?"

"He's fine," she smiled. Someone else entered the room but Ron couldn't see clearly just yet.

"Always more worried about everyone else than yourself weren't you Ron?"

"Harry!"

"Yeah. Alright there?"

"Alright" The familiar answer came back at Harry and he grinned at his friend.

Suddenly the intensive care unit seemed to be a wash of ginger as all the members of the Weasley family descended upon Ron.

Fred and George offered up some trick wands and a flower that squirted you with pumpkin juice when you laughed, from their ready supply at their newly opened magic shop. Bill and Charlie hugged their brother fiercely.

"Careful!" Hermione admonished, and Percy seemed relieved but still pompous - electing to shake Ron's hand. 

Molly and Ginny stood in the corner sobbing quietly with relief. His father stood on his right side and clasped one of Ron's hands in his. 

"Good to see your back with us son. Not too sure about all this Muggle medicine and ekeltricity but Hermione assured me that they are giving you the best care here."

He trailed off when he noticed the IV drip running down into his son's arm. "What's this then? Is there a plug at the other end?"

He fell onto his knees and started to follow the tube only to find it connected up to a bag hanging from a pole that was indeed plugged into the wall. 

"It regulates the amount of fluids being put into Ron's blood stream," Hermione explained as Arthur Weasley looked at it in awe.

"Does it hurt?"

"Can't feel it Dad. Didn't even notice it was there to be honest."

"What are all these people doing in here?" the night matron stood at the entrance to the IC unit with a look of thunder on her face. "He's a very sick man, Ms Granger I thought you would have known the rules at least. Get them out now!"

Hermione looked at the Weasley clan and Harry and raised her hands as if to say "What can I do?"

They took the hint, said a quick good bye to the patient and Hermione said she would keep them up to date with his progress. They hightailed it out of the hospital and headed towards the Leaky Cauldron for an overnight stay or two. 

With all the excitement now over Ron let his eyelids start to droop again. _These ceiling lamps are really rather harsh on the eyes_ he mused. _Maybe a brightness softening charm would work_. But he didn't have on his robes that would have his wand concealed in a fold for easy access, instead he was wearing what appeared to be a sack with a hole for heads and arms that tied in the back. 

He suspected he wasn't wearing underpants and wondered who it had been that had removed his clothes in the first place. Ron also could see no sight of his wand and silently queried if it had been destroyed in the blast. Hermione was now sitting by his side, both her hands encasing one of his. She looked at him solemnly as if this was his funeral and she was saying her last good byes.

"Am I going to be okay, really Hermione?" his face was serious just like in first year when he was playing wizard's chess and her and Harry had been pieces.

"Eventually Ron, but it's going to take time. Physical therapy, you almost lost your leg, not to mention that lung of yours."

"Wondered why it hurt to breathe," His grin was classic Ron but she could tell that he wasn't really joking. A hint of pain was evident in his eyes.

Hermione put her stethoscope on his chest, checking to see if his lungs were clearing up or if he had some fluid on them. Thankfully they were clear and the pain was obviously just run of the mill pain and not _get him into surgery now _pain.

"I can give you something for that Ron, an injection." She started to prepare the syringe, careful to make sure that no air bubbles had gathered in it.

A suspicious look crept onto his face. He didn't really trust Muggle medicine and this was further supporting his theory that it was and primitive. 

"You're gonna stick that metal thingie in my arm?"

"Just the tip of it, it just helps the liquid go in, the metal won't stay there, and it doesn't hurt" She was so matter of fact about everything that it relaxed him.

He looked mightily relieved at that admission. "Oh. What's the liquid?"

"Morphine, makes you sort of loopy for a while, but it makes the pain go away, or it's supposed to. Most of the time it just distracts you from the pain and you don't care about it anymore."

"Alright then, suppose it beats Madam Pomfrey's icky tasting painkiller potions any day." He let her swab his arm clean, closed his eyes tightly and then felt the jab of the needle. His eyes flew open in shock. "Mione you said it wouldn't hurt!"

"Honestly Ronald Weasley, you've had worse, do grow up."

~*~

**Author's note:**  **Laheara - **yep I definitely wrote more! It's a work in progress so when I come up with new chapters then I'll put them up here. Thanks for the praise! I hope the rest of it lives up to your expectations. It'll probably only run for five or so chapters though. Not going to be a huge one.

**paula** – Thanks for the kind words. I tend to be fairly quick with updates (unless I'm off on holidays and aren't at work cause that's when I update – at lunch times of course!) so you shouldn't have to wait too long for more!


	3. Chapter Three

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**SWEETER THAN A NIGHTINGALE  
**by Tyde

~*~

**_Chapter Three_**

~*~

Ron started to like some parts of Muggle hospital practices and started to despise others. For instance the checking of his vital signs. 

Every hour a nurse would come in and take his temperature with a weird little machine they'd put into his ear. It wasn't at all painful (he was very grateful for that) but it did interrupt whatever he was doing at the time, for instance sleeping. 

The taking of his blood pressure he found very odd. The sensation of having that thing wrapped around his arm and it being squeezed tightly felt just like when he'd eaten one of Fred and George's Pixie Pops prototypes and found himself shrinking to the size of your average garden pixie. Later on, Fred had devised a charm to stop the pressure sensation during the shrinking process and they were one of their most popular items, especially on those hot summer days. 

The only machine he was still hooked up to was the IV and he didn't mind that so much, although lately it had taken to beeping loudly with a silly little tune at 3 in the morning when the bag ran out and needed to be changed. 

_Of course_ he muttered to himself _it didn't really matter at 3 in the morning cause I'm already awake from the bloody vitals check_. 

Ron proved to be a difficult patient, complaining about things left and right, and Hermione started to wonder what she'd gotten herself into when she'd told Ron's doctor that she'd take over his nursing care, therapy and all. His favourite complaint for the first month had been the bed pan bottle.

"I'd prefer to pee in a toilet, not a bloody bottle!" he'd said when she'd handed it to him.

"But Ron you're not allowed to get out of bed yet! Just be lucky that it's a bed pan you're using and you're not hooked up with a catheter tube."

"A what?" She explained it to him and that familiar look of horror flushed into his features. "They put a tube in your...bloody hell!"

"Be thankful you're a bed pan man Ron." 

Her hands were rested on her hips in a look of disapproval. "Have you even read that material I left with you yesterday? It explains everything about what's happened to you and how the treatments will be implemented."

"Geez Mione this isn't school. Don't go setting me homework! Next you'll be telling me I can't Apparate to the loo cause you've read in Bethnal Green Hospital, A History that it's impossible!"

"Don't be silly Ron, there is no such book. It's actually mentioned in _The History of London Hospitals_ but that's beside the point. You can't Apparate anyway"

"Why not? Too much electrical interference?"

"No, in case you haven't noticed you are still hooked up to a machine. You can't Apparate while holding, or in your case are attached to, a Muggle object. It muddles things up, mixes all the elements around, and you could end up with your nose being replaced by a metal pole or a tube or something. Plus if you Apparate to the toilet how am I going to explain to the orderly why your bed pan never seems to be full? Honestly Ron, you're in the Muggle world now, you've got to think of these things!"

"That's what I've got you for Mione. You're looking after me"

His ready grin wanted to make her burst out with laughter. Even with horrific injuries and the like he was still quite the charmer. She pursed her lips as if in disapproval but they soon parted to form a small smile.

"What am I going to do with you Ron Weasley? I'm surprised the Ministry haven't busted down that door yet to charge you with breaking every law associated with keeping the wizard world a secret from Muggles. Although I imagine your father is probably getting them to bend a few rules for you"

~*~

She stood nervously at the door with the cart beside her. It was a part of nursing she'd done before, quite a few times actually, but she'd forgotten all about it when she'd agreed to care for Ron. 

"How could I have forgotten this?" she said aloud to herself. "I can't do it".

Hermione thought it would be best to just turn around, find Gemma and get her to do it instead. She was halfway down the hall towards the nurse's station before she decided that she didn't want her friend to do this either. Charging into the room with the cart in tow she met a startled looking Ron. His surprise soon turned to pleasantries. 

"Morning Mione! This tellyvision thing is quite interesting. Muggle pleasemen are quite funny aren't they?"

She looked at the screen to see that he was watching re-runs of The Bill. Hermione had meant to say something in agreement, or some sort of "Hello, how are you feeling?" but instead she just blurted out why she was there.

"RonIhavetogiveyouaspongebath"

"What's that? You have to what?"

"I have to give you a...um a sponge bath"

Her face matched the colour of the blood sample she'd taken from Mr Harrington that morning and she felt like someone had turned up the thermostat in the room.

Ron's eyebrows raised themselves up so high they almost blended into his hairline. "A sponge bath? Naked and everything? You're joking right?"

"Um no. You've got to keep clean otherwise you'll leave yourself open to infections"

"I'm not letting you wash me Hermione. Bloke's gotta have some privacy. The bed pan thing is bad enough, it is, and you want to add getting me nicky nude to the list, I don't think so!" He crossed his arms over his chest and put on his stubborn face.

"If I don't do it Ron, Matron Sloane will and we all know how much you like her"

He looked like an unpleasant taste had suddenly invaded his mouth. He gulped. "Right then, get on with it. And no peeking!"

As Hermione stepped closer to the bed and dragging the cart with the basin of water and sponges on it a thought out of the blue hit her and she voiced it loudly. "A cleansing spell"

"Pardon?" he was looking with trepidation at the sponge dripping with warm water that she had clutched in her hand.

"Why didn't I think of it before? A cleansing spell. If I lock the door and just use a spell to wash you no one will know and you won't have to take off your clothes. It cleans just as well if you have clothes on". The tension in the room immediately dissipated and they were smiling at each other again like old times.

"Thank Merlin that big brain of yours never shrank Mione or we'd be in a bit of a pickle"

They both guffawed. 

"Right then," he said recovering "clean me already".

Hermione plucked her wand from the inside of her coat and pointed it at the hospital bed containing the red head. She didn't even get the chance to recite the incantation because suddenly Ron's eyes rolled back in his head and Hermione did the first time that came to mind. 

She screamed.

~*~

**Author's note:**  **wn_law – **thanks for that. It's really hard to put original elements into HP fanfiction cause there are only so many ideas out there!


	4. Chapter Four

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**SWEETER THAN A NIGHTINGALE  
**by Tyde

~*~

**_Chapter Four_**

~*~

It's amazing how quickly things in life can change. What was once a quiet, almost empty room suddenly became a flurry of activity. Doctors and nurses appearing from either end of the hall and heading into room 464. Hands all over him, hooking up machines and reading gauges.

"Blood pressure is 86 over 50."

"He's lost consciousness."

"Could be a blood clot. Let's get him into theatre".

The voices bounced off the walls and seemed to amplify in Hermione's head as she helped push Ron's bed down the hall toward Theatre Seven trying not to let the other medics see the tears that decorated her cheeks. He looked so small on the bed, his face paler than usual and a slight wrinkle to the brow as if he was in terrible pain.

"Right give me 10 ccs of-" 

Hermione blocked out the words of the doctor and instead dug her wand out from under her robes. She stood behind the surgeon and his assistants and pointed her wand at Ron and watched the blood pressure gauge rise slowly bit by bit till it finally reached a more acceptable level.

"Blood pressure normal. What the hell was that?"

The doctor scanned the room and all the nurses looked confused; Hermione quickly adopted the same look. 

Ron's eyes fluttered open. "Hey. What happened?"

But before anyone could open their mouth his eyes rolled back into his head and he started to seizure. He was flopping all over the bed like a mullet out of water before someone grabbed him to make sure he didn't swallow his tongue or fall onto the floor.

"Fluid on the brain, we'll have to drain it"

"Doctor, his heartbeat is slowing"

That was too much for Hermione; she got as quickly out of there as possible. She sat down outside in one of those horrible moulded plastic seats they provided for concerned family and friends. 

She couldn't figure out why it was that when something went wrong she would run away. It was the second time she'd abandoned Ron is his time of need but the pain she felt at seeing him so helpless was too overwhelming. 

_I don't understand. He was responding well to treatment, the therapy was going well. This can't happen._ A car accident victim was rushed past her and into Theatre Six as she rested her chin on her hand. _Why can't I face this? If I'm going to be a professional I'm going to have to deal with situations like this every day. But it's Ron. My best friend for over eleven years. I can't lose him like this._ Gemma was by her side handing her a Styrofoam cup filled with camomile tea. 

"Thought you could use this. He relapsed, huh?"

"Blood clot or fluid on the brain, I'm not sure. He was fine Gem; he was getting better. Why is this happening?"

"Medicine isn't perfect Hermione"

"That's just the thing, Muggle medicine isn't, but wizard practices are. You only need to treat the patient once and they are fine. It's just so frustrating"

"Why didn't his parents transfer him to St Mungo's after he started to improve?"

"Cause I told them he'd be fine here, they trust me with his life. I don't think they should have"

"Hermione, now is not the time for self pity, you've done all you can, Dr Trager is a brilliant surgeon, he'll fix him. You'll see"

And she was right. Dr Trager did 'fix' Ron. But they had to start the therapy all over again. For some strange reason Hermione found herself not minding at all with that part.

~*~

It had been two weeks since his last episode and he was recovering nicely. They spent half the day in the therapy room where he was learning to walk again on his leg. 

"Honestly Ron, you'll never get better if you don't do it properly"

Hermione broke the levitation spell he'd performed on himself with her wand and forced his feet to the ground. He'd snatched it out of her coat pocket when she'd been supporting him so he wouldn't fall over. 

"One foot in front of the other, you can do it"

"It hurts Mione"

"Where's that Gryffindor bravery you used to have? Captain of the Quidditch team Ron Weasley being waylaid by a little bit of pain? I don't think so."

He looked on the verge of whining and she thought it very odd to see a grown up Ron whinging like a ten year old. "Truly it hurts"

"Okay. Drink this" she shoved a bottle of icky tasting Painless Potion at him. His lip curled up in horror at the stench emanating from the bottle.

"You know on second thoughts, doesn't hurt so much" he walked a few steps while smiling through the pain. "See!"

"You're a devil you know that"

"And you love me for it"

"Just about as much as a Niffler running loose in my flat" Hermione retorted but she was grinning as she said it.

~*~

Hermione sat in the nurse's lounge with at least a dozen books surrounding her. A thick volume concerning the various muscles and tendons in the legs was opened up on her lap and she blew upwards at a stray piece of hair that kept getting into her eyes.

"Tough work?" Gem asked her as she settled down in a nearby chair with a cup of peppermint tea. "Did you even go home last night? You're looking very tired"

Hermione barely glanced up at her friend, her head still very much stuck in the book before her. "The armchairs in the patient rooms aren't as uncomfortable as they seem'" she answered sheepishly. "There was a spare blanket in the cupboard and besides, the more I read up about it the more effective the treatment will be and I can get him out of here and back home. It's so frustrating not being able to just give a wave of a wand and fix him up."

"People have miraculous recoveries all the time Hermione, and it has nothing to do with magic. The doctors wouldn't notice. Just do it"

"That's the thing though, if I could do it I would but I haven't learnt enough. I haven't been back to St Mungo's since Ron was brought in here. I just didn't want to leave him alone"

She circled a paragraph with her highlighter about treatments for atrophy in the calf muscles. "He puts on a brave front but honestly Gem, he's scared. He didn't grow up in the Muggle world, he's had to have a pretty rude introduction to it all and on top of it all he doesn't have his wand. Ron has been attached to that wand ever since third year at Hogwarts. It was almost like another limb to him. I'd catch him sneaking down into the common room in the early hours of the morning to polish it by the light of the fire. He's more attached to it that his owl, Pig. After his rat turned out to be evil he would look after that wand like it was a pet, he truly loved that wand. He'd never admit it though. And now it's gone, thrown out with the rest of the rubble".

"Perhaps it's time to get him a new one"

"You can't just go out and buy one. The wand chooses the wizard, I'd have to take him to Ollivanders myself."

"Well he's allowed day release, say you're taking him to visit his family and instead take him to the wand shop"

She grinned. "It would certainly cheer him up. He's been down in the dumps lately"

"Exactly, he's sick of being couped up in a sterile environment like this. Take him out for the day"

"Great idea but I want it to be a surprise"

Putting a bookmark into a page titled Tendonitis she hugged her friend thank you. "I'll just have to blindfold him or something."

~*~

Knocking firmly on his door Hermione walked in carrying a bed pan. 

Ron looked at her quizzically. "Um Mione, I can actually get out of bed, you've seen me do it. I don't need that anymore"

She ignored his comments and simply wiggled her wand in his direction. Within moments he was freshly washed and dressed in a spiffy set of dark green robes and a jaunty charcoal coloured wizard cap. He noticed she was also in wizarding robes, a dark red that seemed to shimmer when she turned this way and that and a beret with an eagle feather pinned to the side.

"What's going on?"

"A little excursion Ron. Get into the wheelchair"

He did as he was told and she checked her watch.

"Five seconds to go. Hold onto the bed pan with me" she instructed as she grasped onto the wheelchair with her other hand. The Portkey ride was fairly smooth and after years of practise they landed solidly and didn't fall over. Ron looked around him in wonderment.

"Ollivanders? You brought me here to get another wand?" his voice cracked slightly with emotion. "Mione, you're just brilliant"

He hugged her round the waist, his head of flaming hair pressing itself into her stomach, and she felt herself beaming with happiness.

"Thought it might get you to shut up and pay more attention to your recovery"

Mr Ollivander had approached Ron then with a few boxes in his hand. 

"Mr Weasley. If you would please" he held out a wand which Ron took with a slightly shaking hand. Nothing happened. 

The same nothing happened with five other wands and Ron wondered if he had only been destined for his old wand. As he took a hold of the sixth wand the shop owner had thrust at him it emitted a weird type of pastel wave from the tip, slowly more came out until it formed itself into a bunch of flowers. The flowers hovered in the air in front of Hermione as she looked on amazed. 

"That's your wand my boy! Ms Granger, I think the wand wants you to have these" he scooped the flowers out of the air and handed them to her. 

She smiled coyly and looked at her feet for a moment. "Thank you Mr Ollivander". 

She handed over the money for Ron's wand, amidst protests from him, and wheeled Ron out of the shop.

"Have we got time to pop into Quality Quidditch supplies? They've got a new Chudley Cannons book out."

"Sorry Ron, straight back to the hospital – they'll be checking up on you soon no doubt. I can't get Gem to hold them off forever!"

"Okay," he grumbled as a stethoscope provided them with travel back to his hospital room. 

Brightening he took his new wand out of it's box and brandished it at her like a sword. 

"Thanks for the wand Mione. It means a lot" his eyes searched out hers and a look of true sincerity passed between them. "Really"

She bent to kiss him quickly on the cheek. "You're welcome Ron. But if I see you using that in this hospital I might just be forced to put you in restraints"

An unusual feeling washed over Ron and he shifted slightly in his seat. All tied up with Hermione being his nurse? Well if that wasn't a recipe for something naughty he didn't know what was! He was quite sure she hadn't meant anything like that and he mentally slapped himself wondering why it was that he was thinking of his best friend like that in the first place. 

He certainly never thought about Harry like that.

~*~

**Author's note:** Can you see that through the monitor? Tears of joy are streaming down my cheeks at the amount of reviews I've got. My last story only got as many reviews as chapters and this has already exceeded the review to chapter ratio so I'm gushing with happiness. It also does wonders for shortening the amount of time it takes to blast out another chapter. I think there is just one more chapter to go. So thanks to my reviewers:

**lissa** – Thanks for that! I never want my stories to end either, I get too involved with the characters. I don't think I can make this a very long one though, I'm not too good with romance fics. But I'll try to make it as long as possible for you! ;o) 

**Hermione Weasley** – thanks, I like it too! :oP And adding me to your favourite author's list too. Shucks! When I get some time (v. busy at work at the moment) I'll check out your two stories.

**wm_law** – I was recently in hospital and I was dreading the whole sponge bath thing so I thought I'd factor it into the story. Thankfully I didn't have to get a sponge bath :oP

**L James **– I couldn't kill off Ron even if Lord Voldemort was holding a wand to my heart and said that I would die if I didn't do it. I love Ron too much to do that, but it's always good to play with the characters a bit...and the reviewers :o) 

**Xodox** – Thank you! I have a love/hate relationship with hospitals at the moment. I was in one three weeks ago to for an operation, *pain* but I was enthralled by the IV drip!

**jenruki-gal4ever** – Wow! I've never elicited such reactions from people before. As you can tell up there, he's not dead, but I do like cliff-hangers :oP

***star*smiles:)** – Thanks for the encouragement! I was just about to post this chapter up and I get yet another email from the bot telling me there is another review. It's like a flurry. My workday was very crappy the moment before (damn creditors screaming for payment over the phone) the review came - thank you, you brightened up my day!


	5. Chapter Five

~*~****

**SWEETER THAN A NIGHTINGALE  
**by Tyde

~*~

**_Chapter Five_**

~*~

**Author's note:** I'm mean aren't I? I've got a chunk of reviews begging for kissage and I've been sitting on this chapter for a few days. The only reason I was dragging it out is because I still wanted to go over it with a fine toothed comb to make sure I'd said all that needed to be said. There is kissage, there is also an ending.

**Fush** – thank you. Reviews are always appreciated and encouragement is always welcome!

**animegirl-mika** (Michelle) – actually he **was** blinded in the bomb blast. Kidding. I love psychopathic reviewers – I am one myself! Well you know men; you need to hit them over the head for them to get a point. But Mione and Ron aren't as oblivious as you think...you'll see...

**wm_law** – hold your horses! :o) Kissage on it's way!

**Xodox** – yay, you think they are sweet? Faboo. That's what I was going for.

~*~

He was all better, really. Well better enough to leave the hospital and go home. He'd have to have a full time nurse to look after him, a therapist that could help him further with his mobilisation exercises to get his leg back to form. 

The hospital needed the bed, he was well enough to go, she just had to sign the papers and he'd be out of there. But Hermione found herself reluctant to do so. He'd made her job fun, she'd learnt a lot more about other aspects of Muggle medicine and care that she wouldn't have normally and she really enjoyed his company. 

His steady influx of visitors gave the whole hospital a lighter atmosphere. Harry brought him the newest Chudley Cannons book to entertain him and also smuggled in some Firewhiskey when Hermione was distracted by talking to Percy about the latest embargos on dangerous medicines from Lithuania. 

Mrs Weasley was anxious to have her 'baby' home but Mr Weasley was happy for him to stay there are long as he needed to and "if possible could you grab a couple of plugs and some other Muggle things of interest I've seen?" 

It wasn't down to Ron or Hermione to decide however, Matron Sloane gave Ron his marching orders the following morning. He used a cane to support his weight as he walked. It was a rather handsome cane, cherry wood, with a carved handle that resembled a lion. The lion carved on the handle made up for the fact that when he'd first been given the cane he refused because he didn't want to appear to be anything like that "prejudiced bastard Lucius Malfoy".

Mr Weasley had borrowed a car from the Ministry to take them home, as he didn't fancy Ron's chances with a trip by Floo powder. 

They all climbed into the surprisingly spacious interior of the Rolls and settled back for a quick and seemingly effortless trip back to the Burrow. As they all stood outside of the place Ron had called home for 23 years Hermione felt it was time to fess up. She cleared her throat, all the while playing it out as if it was a theatrical performance.

"Ron, I didn't hire you a therapy nurse."

"Oh okay. Should I just..." He had a sparkle to his eye that was meant only for Hermione and none of the other members of his family or Harry noticed.

"I figured I could just do it. I mean, I've read enough about it," Ron started to laugh. "What's so funny?"

"Is there anything you haven't read enough about? You could be the Minister for Magic if there was a book written about it Mione," She blushed.

"Now, now Ron, you're embarrassing her. Come inside dear and we'll set up a bed for you," Mrs Weasley put her arm around Hermione and led her into the kitchen.

Harry looked at his other best friend. "She's going to work you to the bone you know that? Never a moments peace, exercises left and right, have you reading half the Ottery St Catchpole library by the end of it all and you'll be begging for me to get you out".

"Shut up Harry," was all Ron said as he limped into the house, although he did swallow a secretive grin.

~*~

"Is there any exercise in that bloody book that doesn't include me looking like a right idiot?" Ron complained as she shifted his foot up near his nose.

"Now Ron, you don't have to try to look like a right idiot, it just happens," a smile tugged at the corners of her mouth.

"Did the prim and proper Nurse Granger just make fun of me?"

"I believe I just did...Moaning Myrtle"

"Blimey, next you'll be transfiguring me into a badger or something"

"Don't give me ideas!"

"You seem rather cheerful of late, what's up?"

"Does anything have to be up?" Her words appeared innocent but he knew exactly what she was implying.

"You're just normally so serious"

"Well maybe it's cause I was worried about you before. You almost died twice you know, made me sick with worry," she sat down beside him on the mat. "But now that you're okay I figure I can have a little fun at your expense"

Her hand rested on his thigh as she spoke.

"Oh really? Well just cause my leg isn't fully recovered doesn't mean my hands aren't"

Leaning forward he clamped a hand down on her ankles and started to tickle her feet.

"Oooh...oh stop it Ronald Weasley! Just..." but she couldn't continue that train of thought as she broke out into insatiable giggles. 

Regaining just a little bit of her composure she beat off his tickling fingers and proceeded to run her fingers up and down his ribs eliciting sniggering from her patient. Harry walked in on them and asked if being a patient was so fun could he get in on the action? Hermione was all business after that.

~*~

It had only taken another month of therapy before Ron was back to normal. He felt a little sad to be seeing Hermione go after all they had been through. He voiced this to Harry on her last evening in the house. Little did Harry know that he was being set up.

"I like having her around, you know. It's different then when it was in school"

"Yeah, she wasn't your slave at school. Are you still making her bring you breakfast in bed?"

"I never asked her to do that Harry, she just did it," that familiar Weasley grin spread across his face.

"You know what's going on though don't you?"

"What?" Ron's expression was all innocence.

"What's going on with you and Mione"

"What, therapy?"

"Geez Ron, you can be daft sometimes can't you? You're telling me you never noticed it?" The exasperation was building on the famous man's face.

"Spit it out Harry, noticed what?" Ron scratched his knee and tried to avoid his friend's eye, he didn't want to give the game away.

"You two so obviously like each other. There were inklings at school but this whole series of events have only confirmed it"

"Of course I like her, she's my bloody best friend isn't she?" It was taking everything in his power not to laugh out aloud.

"Ron, you know what I'm talking about"

A third voice joined the conversation. "What _are_ you talking about Harry?"

Harry gulped as he recognised Hermione's crisp voice. "You fancy Ron and he fancies you. It's as plain as the nose on my face"

Ron raised an eyebrow and Hermione cleared her throat. 

"Well?" said Harry, beginning to think he'd imagined it all, "Don't you?"

Harry's two best friends started to laugh, loudly and with tears running down their face. 

"Of course we do you nitwit. And you say _we're_ not observant. We've been together for months, ever since 'Mione here said something about tying me up if I didn't behave myself. We were wondering how long we could keep it quiet before one of us cracked. It has been fun watching you get all flustered about it though".

Harry watched with amazement as Ron pulled Hermione onto his lap and gave her a rather passionate kiss. 

"In fact there was something else that I wanted to say tonight, but I think it can wait until dinner".

His girlfriend cocked an eyebrow at him in question but he just shook his head "Later" he mouthed before bending down to capture her lips in yet another breathtaking kiss. 

Harry just threw his hands up in the air and stormed out. "If you can't trust your best friends, who can you trust?" he mumbled.

The entire Weasley clan sat around the magically enlarged kitchen table. Arthur, Molly, Bill and his pregnant wife, Charlie and his girlfriend, Percy, Fred, George, Ron and Ginny. Hermione and Harry sat on either side of Ron. 

Mrs Weasley had gone all out with the meal preparations that night, it wasn't often the whole family was together and there really was a lot of them to cater for, what with Bill starting off the grandchildren and all. They were having dessert of elderberry pie and ice cream when Ron cleared his throat.

"Um everybody I have something to say". Eight redheads turned towards him as did three brunettes and a blonde.

"As you know I haven't been altogether healthy this past year but due to the excellent care of Nurse Granger over there I have made a full recovery. Muggles are due more credit than they are given, their medical practices although seemingly primitive and painful to us really are quite effective in the end."

He glanced at his watch nervously. "Um..." his speech was interrupted by a commotion coming from the lounge room. 

Two people had just flooed in and were in a heap on the floor, dust covering their neat Muggle clothing. Hermione's eyes widened.

"Mum? Dad? What are you doing here? How did you know how to use Floo powder?" their daughter was filled with questions and they all seemed to be spilling out of her mouth at once.

Her mother spoke first, "Ron invited us. Sorry we're late Ron, a little nervous about using the Floo. It's really quite bracing isn't it?"

Molly conjured up some chairs from the garage so the Grangers could join the already over crowded table. Ron looked at Mr Granger who smiled and nodded his head. No one noticed him slip something to Ron under the table. The red head quickly secreted it into his robes and stood up.

"Right, um, okay then"

Ron was twisting his napkin up so tightly that his knuckles were turning white. 

"Ah, I have an announcement to make. Um, actually it's more of a question. It's something that's been on my mind for quite some time and I really think I should do something about it before it's too late"

He turned to Hermione and fell onto one knee in front of her. A small box made it's way out of the pocket in his robes and he opened it up for her to see what was inside. She gasped in shock and put a hand over her heart. _He couldn't be, surely not?! _But he was. Harry's eyes bugged out of his head. As if he hadn't had enough surprises for tonight.

"Hermione Louise Granger...will you marry me?"

The captive audience hung on every word. Hermione's eyes had misted over and she could see that Ron was the same way. The ring he held out to her was her grandmother's engagement ring. 

A late 1940s princess cut diamond that twinkled in the candlelight. She looked over to her father who also had tears in his eyes and was holding tightly onto her mother who was sniffling into a handkerchief. It had been his mother's ring and she had left it to him in her will to give to whomever he deemed worthy to propose to his daughter. The pause was so long that Ron had started to sweat.

"Um...Mione?" He licked the sweat off the top of his lip nervously. "Kinda need an answer here"

In any other circumstance everyone would have laughed out aloud but they waited with baited breath as if everything in their lives had led up to this defining moment. Even Fred and George were speechless enough for no inappropriate comments to grace their lips.

"Honestly Ronald Weasley, don't you know me by now?" she dropped to her knees and flung her arms around him. "The answer is yes, silly".

The round of applause in the small kitchen of The Burrow that evening would have put Quidditch World Cup spectators to shame.

~*~

**THE END******

~*~

**Author's note:** That's it. Gee that seemed to be over so quick :o( I suppose cause the last one I wrote was 26 chapters and also I had holidays and illnesses preventing me from writing it. This was only five chapters but I don't really think I wanted it to be much more than that. If there is enough interest I may write a sequel, that'll probably be fairly short too though. Thanks to all my reviewers!


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